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The Web is Anything But Dead

A recent article comments on a statement made by Chris Anderson in Wired Magazine last year that “the web is dead.” The article states, “Ten months later, events have shown that he couldn’t have been more wrong. That’s not because the Web is still alive and kicking. To be fair, Mr. Anderson never argued that it would collapse, just that it would become irrelevant. That hasn’t happened and it’s looking less and less likely that it will. In fact, thanks to the Web’s amazing ability to evolve, we’re soon going to see more innovation than we have in a long while. In a few short years, the web will be more mobile, interconnected, data rich and visually exciting than anything we’ve had before.”

After commenting on the developments of the cloud and the semantic web (read the full article here), the author states, “I’m always a bit reticent when I write about technical issues. Firstly, because I’m by no means an expert, but also because it’s always hard to show how it’s relevant to everyday use. However, in this case it boils down to one thing: Money! The world of innovation is always balancing between the need for a profit motive and the dangers of market dominance. While Steve Jobs and Apple did us all a big service by launching the iPhone and later the iPad, their overbearing subscription policies threatened to undermine much of the innovation that they themselves had spawned.”

He concludes, “The Web’s new standards ensure that individuals and small entrepreneurs can continue to innovate and compete with large corporations. Moreover, the examples noted above will undoubtedly look quaint a few short years from now. The technology is new and just coming online. We’re just getting started. What lies before us is going to be one of the most exciting periods of innovation that we’ve seen yet: A rich media experience on a truly open platform, ripe with new possibilities.”